The commission's chair, Bongani Majola, said that all of the complaints were examined individually but said the commission had concluded that they did not meet the legal standard for hate speech.

However, according to Eyewitness News, Majola did admit that the definition of hate speech was not entirely clear, and that more legal clarity may still be needed over the matter.

For example, the commission argued that Malema's singing of Kill the Boer was acceptable because it was a struggle song. Additionally, it said that Malema's comments about Indians mistreating black people were "not hurtful".